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Datsyuk scores twice in second period as Red Wings overpower Blues 5-2

Detroit Red Wings\' Pavel Datsyuk, left, sidesteps a hit from St. Louis Blues\' Carlo Colaiacovo in the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, March 14, 2009 in St. Louis. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Tom Gannam
Author: The Hockey News

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Datsyuk scores twice in second period as Red Wings overpower Blues 5-2

ST. LOUIS - The Detroit Red Wings gave the St. Louis Blues a firsthand look at their potent, quick-strike offence.

The Red Wings, who lead the NHL with 257 goals, scored on three consecutive shots in a 46-second span of a 5-2 victory over the Blues on Saturday.

Pavel Datsyuk scored twice in the high-powered second period for the Red Wings.

"We shot the puck, we got it to the net and you really don't ever bank on scoring like that consistently," Wings forward Kirk Maltby said. "A couple good shots either surprised the goalie or handcuffed him and the next thing you know it's in the net.

"We definitely came out better in the second and that was kind of how we got rewarded."

Tomas Kopecky, Brett Lebda and Henrik Zetterberg also scored, and Chris Osgood stopped 30 shots for Detroit, tied with Boston for the NHL lead with 99 points.

The Blues, fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, got a goal and assist from T.J. Oshie. David Backes had two assists, and Jeff Woywitka also scored for St. Louis, which is on the outside edge of a playoff position.

"It was what we expected," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "That's Game 7 for them. They're playing for their playoff life.

"They're at a different level intensity-wise and I thought after we got through the first period, we were much better."

The Blues have a quick turnaround against Minnesota on Sunday.

"We've got a game to play in 24 hours," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "It's a big game for our team, and the players were given from the time that I left the room until (the media) walked in to feel sorry for themselves."

The Red Wings struck quickly to grab a 3-1 lead on goals by Datsyuk, Kopecky and Lebda. Datsyuk and Kopecky scored 10 seconds apart.

"We just kept creating turnovers. We were working real hard to get the puck back and forechecking hard and creating some turnovers and we were shooting the puck," Red Wings defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom said. "We made some quick passes and some quick shots, as well, so it's great to see the puck go in for us that way."

Datsyuk tied it 4:40 into the second after the Blues failed to dump a puck deep in the Detroit zone and then made a poor line change that sprung Datsyuk loose.

Kopecky scored his sixth of the season when the Blues got caught in their own end while Detroit picked its way through the Blues zone.

Lebda made it 3-1 just 36 seconds later. He intercepted a bad clearing pass by defenceman Barret Jackman and snapped a shot over the glove of Chris Mason at 5:26. Jackman was also called for roughing at the end of the play.

"We needed to make better decisions with the puck in all the goals that were scored against us," Murray said.

The Blues got a goal back when Woywitka one-timed a cross-ice feed from Oshie from the right circle at 9:08 of the second. Osgood preserved the 3-2 lead when he made a pad save from point blank range on Jay McClement with 4:55 left in the period.

"It was a big goal at the time, but it's a tough loss," Woywitka said. "We're not worrying about it too much. We've got to put it behind us. We play (Sunday) and that's the biggest game of the year right now. That's what we're focusing on."

Datsyuk's second of the game with 35 seconds remaining in the second gave Detroit a two-goal lead again. Woywitka turned over the puck in his own end, allowing Datsyuk to throw a shot from the far right circle through a screen and past Mason.

Mason was replaced after the second period by St. Louis native Ben Bishop and returned briefly with 5:11 remaining.

A good cycle of the puck enabled the Blues to take a 1-0 edge when Oshie converted a centring feed from Andy McDonald with 5:16 left in the first period.

The Blues outshot Detroit 16-4 in the third period but could not get anything past Osgood, who blanked the Blues the previous time Detroit visited on March 3.

"The missed opportunities in the third period were every bit as bad as the goals we gave up in the second," Murray said. "Their goalie made some saves, and we'll give him credit, but you've got to bury some of those opportunities in the third period. We had more than enough for two goals."

Notes: Red Wings RW Marian Hossa returned to the lineup after hurting his neck in Detroit's game at St. Louis 11 days earlier. ... Blues centres Patrik Berglund (stiff back) and Alex Steen (hip) returned to the lineup after missing Thursday's 3-1 win over San Jose. ... The Red Wings are on a 7-0-1 surge against the Blues and have won five straight in St. Louis. ... Oshie became the 10th Blues player to score 10 goals this season. ... Red Wings C Valtteri Filppula left the game in the second period due to back spasms.

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At least two teams are reportedly interested in acquiring the Sedins for their full cap hit and Canucks veterans could draw interest at the trade deadline. The Kings are looking to clear cap space by moving out Teddy Purcell.

The ongoing struggles of the Vancouver Canucks this season generated some speculation over possible roster moves.

By late-November, The Province's Jason Botchford suggested the Canucks could get an early start on deciding which players to move by the March 1 trade deadline. He felt veterans such as Ryan Miller, Alex Edler, Alexandre Burrows and perhaps even Daniel and Henrik Sedin could be on the move.

Botchford said he knows of two teams that would be willing to acquire the Sedins for their full combined salary-cap hit of $14 million. If the Canucks were to pick up part of that cap hit (which runs through 2017-18), he thinks more clubs would be interested.

The sticking point, of course, is the Sedins' willingness to be traded. So far, they've given no indication that they want out of Vancouver. As Botchford points out, such a move would likely have to take place in the off-season.

Even if the Canucks put the Sedins on the block, they're unlikely to fetch a significant return. While they're still putting up solid numbers (17 points in 26 games), the 36-year-old twins are well past their prime. Teams aren't going to give up a lot for a couple of fading stars. Picks and prospects, sure, but nothing that would immediately reverse the Canucks' fortunes.

As for Miller, he and Canucks management could be willing to work out a contract extension. Botchford's collegue Ben Kuzma doubts the Canucks place the 36-year-old goalie on the block by the trade deadline.

Kuzma notes Miller's stats aren't great this season. However, he feels he'll still be a good fit with Jacob Markstrom, buying some time until promising goalie prospect Thatcher Demko is ready to move up. He wonders if Miller might be agreeable to a two- or three-year deal worth between $4-$4.5 million per season. That's a significant pay cut from Miller's current $6-million annual salary.

Considering Miller's no longer an elite goaltender, he probably won't get much better than that on the open market. He could test next summer's free-agent market, but will likely find few decent offers. He could prefer to avoid uncertainty over his future by staying in Vancouver for a reasonable contract.

KINGS TRYING TO FREE SPACE WITH PURCELL MOVE

Los Angeles Kings left wing Teddy Purcell cleared waivers over the weekend. Signed as a free agent last summer to a one-year, $1.6-million contract, the 31-year-old managed only two points in 12 games this season. Illness and a lower-body injury sidelined him in October, and he was a healthy scratch in the Kings' last four games.

With 21 of 30 NHL teams carrying $2 million or less in cap space, moving Purcell's cap hit is difficult right now. The Kings obviously want to shed his salary without taking any back in a deal. They could be waiting until later in the season to find the right deal.

Rumor Roundup appears regularly only on thehockeynews.com. Lyle Richardson has been an NHL commentator since 1998 on his website, spectorshockey.net, and is a contributing writer for Eishockey News and The Guardian (P.E.I.).For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.

John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

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John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

The New York Islanders captain undressed Jay Bouwmeester in the most unusual of ways, but the important thing is he kept the puck. Then he buried it

John Tavares: good at hockey.

The New York Islanders captain pulled off an absolutely stunning series of moves last night, culminating in a laser-shot goal against St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen. But let's get back to his humbling of Olympic gold medallist Jay Bouwmeester, because that's where the real magic happened.

Witness, as Tavares puts his stick behind his back and grabs it with his other hand while still skating and fending off Bouwmeester. Then, since he is a patient boy, Tavares waits and waits and waits before firing one top corner on Allen:

As the soccer folks would say, lovely. New York would go on to beat the Blues 3-2, with Anders Lee scoring the other two goals for the Isles. After struggling to begin the season, New York is now 6-2-2 in its past 10 games. Tavares leads the squad with 21 points through 26 contests.

Bettman says next season's salary cap could go ‘a couple or so million up'

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Bettman says next season's salary cap could go ‘a couple or so million up'

The NHL could be looking at a $2 million rise in the salary cap for next season, but early projections should be taken with a grain of salt. In December 2015, a potential rise of $3 million was projected. The upper limit increased by only $1.6 million.

It’s still far too soon to tell, but early estimations have it looking like the salary cap could jump up as much as $2 million ahead of the 2017-18 campaign.

Following the NHL’s Board of Governors meetings on Thursday, commissioner Gary Bettman was asked about what the league sees as a potential cap for the upcoming campaign, which, among other things, will see the introduction of the league’s 31st franchise in the Vegas Golden Knights.

Bettman didn’t give an exact figure as to what the cap will look like, but he said there’s the potential for the upper limit to move by roughly $2 million.

"There's always a range, but it's something we're going to have to look at very carefully in terms of how may be best to approach it," Bettman said, according to NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. "The cap could range from where it is now to a couple or so million up, but we're going to all have to focus on what makes most sense going forward.”

Any increase in the cap would be good news for the players, especially pending unrestricted free agents looking to land long-term, big-money deals. St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Ben Bishop are two of the biggest names currently slated to hit the open market come July 2017.

Of course, there’s a chance the cap stays flat, which Bettman also indicated, but said he’d prefer to speak with the NHLPA about a possible flat cap before answering questions about it.

Before any GMs with tight cap situations or fans who’re praying their respective teams get some cap breathing room go celebrating, it’s worth noting that early projections for the 2016-17 salary cap saw the upper limit increasing by close to $3 million. That would have seen the cap rise from $71.4 million to $74.5 million, and anyone paying close attention to the financials of the league’s teams is aware that rise in the upper limit didn’t quite come to fruition.

Instead, the cap for the current campaign is $71.4 million, and the rise is mostly thanks to the NHLPA using their five-percent “escalator clause.” Had the players not used the clause, there was some concern the cap could have actually dipped from the past season to the current campaign. Some projections had the cap possibly falling below $70 million for 2016-17.

A rise of $2 million would be only slightly more than the $1.6 million increase from 2015-16 to 2016-17, and it would be one of the smallest increases since the salary cap was introduced in 2005-06. From 2008-09 to 2009-10, the cap rose by only $100,000 and there was no rise in the cap from 2011-12 to 2013-14, with teams allowed to spend to a $60-million limit during the 2012-13 lockout-shortened campaign.

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ECHL defenseman Anthony Calabrese is “lucky to be alive” after a “careless, reckless” hit, and Tyler Murovich, who delivered the blow, has been given a 12-game suspension as a first-time offender.

There are few plays scarier than seeing a player hit from behind and sent headfirst into the boards. That kind of play is made that much harder to watch when knowing the severity of the injury suffered.

During an ECHL contest on Nov. 24 between the Norfolk Admirals and Atlanta Gladiators, ECHL veteran Tyler Murovich delivered an incredibly dangerous shove to the back of Anthony Calabrese, a 24-year-old defenseman who’s only 12 games into his ECHL career.

The result of the hit was frightening. Calabrese was left laying face down on the ice, near motionless. The Admirals rearguard would eventually be placed on a stretcher, taken from the ice and transported to hospital.

That may seem harsh to some given that Murovich is a first-time offender, but given the severity of Calabrese’s injury, it actually seems like a somewhat light punishment.

As a result of the hit, Calabrese suffered broken C7 and T1 vertebrae. In simpler terms, he broke both his neck and his back. Oh, and he also punctured his lung. In fact, Calabrese told The Virginian-Pilot’s Jim Hodges that doctors told the young center that he’s “lucky to be alive.”

“It was a miracle, and they say I’m going to make a full recovery,” Calabrese told Hodges. “It’s going to be a long road, but I’d rather be alive than be in a wheelchair the rest of my life.”

What helped Calabrese escape with his life, he told Hodges, was advice he had gotten early in his career from a high school coach. Calabrese was taught that if he was ever going into the boards head first to lift his chin and turn to the side in an attempt to avoid taking the brunt of the impact with the top of his head.

“That’s honestly the only thing that registered in my mind when I was going in: at the last minute, pick my head up,” Calabrese told Hodges. “I remember picking my head up and turning it to the right.”

Thankfully, doctors told Calabrese that he can eventually return to the ice and that the injuries suffered from the hit won’t cost him his career. His spinal cord, he told Hodges, wasn’t damaged due to the hit. And, as hard as it may be to believe, doctors said it was the “best possible break” in a situation such as Calabrese’s.